To what degree have generationally-differentiated experiences of domestic and international events impacted Japanese society and its politics in the past? How should the study of past generational transitions inform current social research into generational divergences in Japanese society? This event is comprised of a panel of individual presentations on the Meiji, Taisho, early Showa, and post-war research on the links between generational change and politics, followed by a roundtable discussion of the implications of such research for contemporary Japanese society. The roundtable discussion will focus in particular on whether the controversial social, economic and security policies of Prime Minister Abe Shinzo are indicative of widely-held attitudes of generational groups that will come into power in the post-Abe era.

Program

1 pm- 2.14 pm Speaker Presentations

The Historical Impact of Generational Change on Japanese Politics and Institutions

Yuichiro Shimizu: "Cultivating Potential Hopes, Mobilizing Prospects Youth: Nation Building and Human Resources Policy in Modern Japan"

Andrew Levidis: "Kakushin and War: Shōwa Youth and the Shadow of the Great War"

Matthias Zachman: "Generational change in Japanese Intellectuals' Attitudes towards China, 1945-1978"

Corey Wallace: "Security Policy, Conservatism, and Generational Groups in Contemporary Japan"

2.15 pm - 2.45 pm Refreshment Break including a Light Lunch

2.45 pm - 4 pm Roundtable Discussion

The Impact of Generational Change on Contemporary Japanese Politics

Speakers and Discussants: 

• Yuichiro Shimizu, Professor of Japanese Politics and History in the Faculty of Policy Management, Keio University, Japan
• Andrew Levidis, Associate Research Fellow, Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Cambridge University 
• Corey Wallace, Einstein Visiting Fellowship Postdoctoral Fellow, Graduate School of East Asian Studies, Freie Universität Berlin 
• Urs Matthias Zachmann, Professor of History and Culture of Modern Japan at Freie Universität Berlin
  
  

Proceedings:

In session one, the speakers will present individually on their current research interests specific to Japan's social history and how different generational cohorts reacted to critical international and regional events surrounding Japan. After refreshments, session two will see the speakers engage in a roundtable discussion on the meaning of their research for contemporary Japan given the rapid geopolitical change in Asia and Japan's specific socio-economic challenges. The roundtable will include discussion of what we should expect in the post-Abe era in terms of the ideological predispositions of political elites who inhabit the legislative and bureaucratic institutions in Japan. Questions and comments from the audience are encouraged in both sessions.